A metal film may be used as a reflective material in a light emitting element, e.g., an LED (Light Emitting Diode) element. The characteristics of the reflective material greatly affect the characteristics of the LED element. To ensure the electrical connection with the semiconductor layer, for example, a gold (Au) alloy including zinc (Zn) may be used as the metal film in the case where the semiconductor layer is a p-type semiconductor layer; and a Au alloy including germanium (Ge) may be used in the case of an n-type semiconductor layer. However, an alloy layer forms between the semiconductor layer and the metal when heat treatment is performed to ensure the electrical connection between the Au alloy and the semiconductor layer. The alloy layer causes the reflectance to decrease by absorbing the light. To avoid this problem, a method may be considered in which the alloy layer is prevented from forming by interposing a transparent electrode of indium tin oxide (ITO), etc., between the Au alloy and the semiconductor layer.
On the other hand, it is desirable for the current not to flow under the pad electrode which is the upper electrode of the LED as much as possible because the pad electrode blocks the light that is emitted by the active layer. Methods to this end include, for example, a method in which a blocking layer that blocks the current flowing between the upper and lower electrodes is provided under the upper electrode, and a method in which a lower confinement layer that constrains the current connection locations is provided under the upper electrode. However, to further increase the luminance of the LED element, there is room for improvement in such methods.